Harry Howard Hudson ’45 – Davidson College

Harry Howard Hudson passed away on November 15, 2014. He was 90. A member of the Greatest Generation, Harry had a servant’s heart throughout his life for family, friends, his clients and strangers. He was devoted to his wife, Carolyn who predeceased him in 2012, and to their children, Callie Hudson Paterson and H. Brock Hudson.

Harry was born in Houston on February 28, 1924. He was the youngest child of Zenobia Curtis and Eugene Arthur Hudson and brother to Tom, Jean and Dick. His mother’s family had operated Mistrot & Curtis, a dry goods store in the Kiam Building near Market Square. Harry’s father had come to Houston from Georgia in 1892, opened Hudson Furniture Company at 711 Travis, shuttered it while serving in the Spanish-American War, sold that site to Jesse Jones in 1914, reopened on the then-outskirts of town at 804 Rusk, and ran the store until his death in 1939. Harry and his siblings worked at the store. Harry grew up at No. 4 Chelsea Place, in a home his father built during the 1920’s that was recently razed for a high rise. Weekend outings included trips to the Hudson Farm on the banks of Buffalo Bayou, which the family donated to the Sam Houston Area Council of the Boy Scouts, in what is now Memorial.

Harry was in the first freshman class at Lamar High School. After his father’s death, he attended and was graduated from the Darlington School in Rome, Georgia. He was a freshman at Davidson College when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He transferred to the University of Texas, enlisted in the Navy and waited to be called up. He did his basic training followed by 90-day naval officer training school at Cornell and flight training in Dallas and Pensacola. He completed his service in Hawaii.

In 1945, he returned to the University of Texas. He was graduated with a BBA in Accounting in 1948 and later completed an MBA. He met Carolyn at the University of Texas. They married on July 1, 1949 and lived in Houston for the rest of their lives. Harry worked as a CPA for more than 50 years. In the early years, he worked at Touche Niven Bailey & Smart, followed by Fifteen Oil Company.

For many years he had his own firm, Hudson, McClendon & Mills. He also served on the board of directors of River Oaks Bank and Trust. Continuing a tradition of service to his community, Harry was a long-time board member of Holly Hall and a member of the Knights of Lazarus, which raised funds for the Center for the Retarded. An avid fisherman, Harry enjoyed weekends spent at Coon Creek Club near Athens, Texas. Sunday lunches or dinners were often spent at the Houston Country Club with family and friends. For many years, Carolyn and Harry were faithful members of the BASIC Class at First Presbyterian Church.

Throughout his life, Harry quietly and faithfully served those he loved as well as those whom God had simply put in his path. In addition to Callie and Brock, Harry leaves to mourn him Jean Hudson Caton, his sister from Tyler, Texas; Callie’s husband, Tom Paterson, and daughters Lindsay and Caroline; and Brock’s wife, Lauren Hudson, and children Brock and Margaret. He also leaves Helen Arterberry, Blanca Huerta and Vicki Semander, who were his gracious and consistent care providers.

Friends are cordially invited to gather with the family at the residence of Callie and Tom Paterson from five o’clock until eight o’clock in the evening on Wednesday, November 19. Following a private interment at Glenwood Cemetery, a memorial service to celebrate Harry’s life will be held on Thursday, November 20, at 2:00 p.m. in the sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church at 5300 Main Street with Dr. Bill Heston officiating. A reception in Fellowship Hall will follow.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be directed in Harry’s memory to First Presbyterian Church, 5300 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77004 or to the charity of one’s choice.